A Festival to Celebrate Halal Foods

A small group of 20-somethings, some of whom are still in college, came up with the idea of this inaugural New York Halal Food Festival on Long Island. Noran Omar, the creative media director of the event, said all of the organizers have immigrant parents and wanted to foster a sense of community among Muslims…

Designer Bongs Are a Thing Now

Remember that sophomore girl who could make a bong with an apple? Brett Heyman’s got her beat. The founder and creative director of Edie Parker now has handblown glass hash pipes shaped like peaches, grapes, and even a banana, which looks a little like… well… use your sophomore imagination. “All the bongs and pipes are…

Brows Before Vows

Two days before he walks down the aisle this fall, Ali Pourvasei intends to walk into a salon to have his eyebrows waxed. “For my wedding, it’s a no-brainer,” said Mr. Pourvasei, 38, of Los Angeles. “I’m doing a custom suit from scratch, so everything at my wedding has to look good. Eyebrows are just…

Build a Better Savory Pie

LONDON — In Britain, the word “pie” has multiple meanings, some old, some new, some sweet, some savory, some with a pastry crust, others without. To an outsider, this is all very confusing. I can remember walking into a butcher shop in Edinburgh, more than 20 years ago, to buy an attractive-looking pork pie, wonderfully sculpted…

A Daniel Grilled Cheese to Make at Home

At Restaurant Daniel, a new bar menu of small plates like oysters, gougères and smoked trout rillettes, includes sleek, well-burnished croquine sandwiches of Manchego cheese, Iberico ham and hazelnuts on brioche. To make 16 of them at home, you’ll need eight thin slices of crustless brioche; two ounces of thinly sliced cured ham, preferably Spanish;…

If a Paper Straw Isn’t Your Thing …

Alternatives to plastic straws are proliferating, and more permanent materials than paper are being used: stainless steel, sterling silver, glass and ceramic, sometimes equipped with carrying cases. Among the most decorative examples are these 8.5-inch ceramic straws printed with patterns that suggest elaborate tile work. They’re from Stephanie Nass, who sells tableware on her website…

A Wine Shop Focused on the Gems

Albert Di Meglio, the chef and an owner of Barano restaurant in South Williamsburg, said that customers who liked a wine on his list would ask where to buy it. “It was sometimes a problem,” he said. “Restaurants can get wines on allocation that people won’t find in stores. That’s one of the reasons I…

Worcestershire Butter!

Good morning. I was down in Howard Beach eating a slice from New Park Pizza as the sun bore down hard on Cross Bay Boulevard, and that is what I wish you could be doing today whether you read these words in Los Angeles or Brisbane, Paris or London, either one of the Portlands or…

Ice Cream Ideas From England

A family ice cream enterprise in England — started by Theo Mezger and named for his wife, Jude Mezger — is given its due in “Jude’s Ice Cream & Desserts,” a cookbook by their sons. Luring me into the kitchen were recipes for assorted ice creams (consider the strawberry-buttermilk right now); ice cream desserts like…